She shook her head again.
“Well...” He sighed and glanced behind him, like he was contemplating the situation. He looked even more pained for a second. “I think you should stay. The food here is really great, and in an hour or two, everyone will be so drunk, they won’t remember you.”
Cherry stared up at him. He was getting cuter by the second. He had bristly blond eyebrows and full pink lips. She liked the way his mouth never quite resolved itself into a smile. She liked his diamond-checked necktie.
“Are you still tharn?” he asked gently. “I’ve got to tell you, you’re not invisible.”
“I’ll stay,” Cherry said.
He grinned. Sort of. He kind of clamped it down midway. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“All right.” He nodded again. “Good.”
“But I need to get out of this room.”
“I can help you with that.” He stood taller and nodded toward thearchway where she’d first spotted him. “There’s a back room over there where all the reprobates hang out.”
“That sounds perfect.”
“Walk with me. I’ll cover you.”
Cherry let him walk between her and the party. He was very good at looming without actually crowding her.
“I have to say...” she said. “You don’t seem like a reprobate.”
“I’m worse,” he said. “I’m an artist.”
Cherry laughed. “I’m an artist, too.”
He smiled down at her. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Well. I work in marketing.”
They turned a corner into a smaller room. It was just as crowded in here—and just as cream-colored—but the faces were younger and the suits were cheaper. A few people looked twice at Cherry when she walked in, but their judgment felt less consequential. And she felt shielded by the big guy. Theartist.
“Here,” he said. “Stand behind this couch. You’re very presentable from the waist up.”
“Every girl’s dream.”
He blushed. He had a very visible blush. “That’s not what I meant.”
She smiled at him. “I know.”
“Let me get you something to drink. And some of the little sandwiches—that’s what I was looking for when I found you. How do you feel about canapés, generally speaking?”
“I feel really, really good about them,” Cherry said. She resisted saying,I mean, look at me.
“I’m going to bring you a whole tray.”
“And a Coke,” she said.
He nodded. “Got it.” He was looking down between them and peering up at her. “Don’t go anywhere. I don’t want to find you standing in the hallway again, glassy-eyed.”
“I know that it’s about rabbits,” Cherry said. “Your book.”
“It’s a great book. You should read it.”
